Job Discussion Forums

[JZer]

I met an English teacher today who said Korean was difficult. It did not appear that she has ever got past the basics of any language. While there are always exceptions to the rule, do you think that monolingual teachers make good EFL teachers in general?

Can a monolingual teacher every really understand how to teach EFL?

[spiral78]

I don't think that someone who lacks the experience of language learning is going to be the best teacher of language.

That said, I usually give newbie teachers the benefit of the doubt, but I would expect someone who'd lived/worked in a non-English speaking country for more than a year to make some serious effort, and two or more years should really bring at least some fluency in practical areas.

It's possible to live and work somewhere for a year and not pick up much, especially if you're planning to move on after finishing a contract.

But the insights that learning brings to teaching are ultimately invaluable, in my opinion.

[dmb]

[spiral78]

Yeah, I guess when you're living in a closed situation and are isolated from the local culture, at least to some extent, that changes things...

I was speaking from the standpoint of cultures that are more open to foreigners, I suppose.

Interesting thought.

[rusmeister]

In the long run they don't make good EFL teachers. I grew up monolingual so think I can talk; learned all my languages as an adult.
The specific holes that need to be filled in students knowledge require a knowledge of how a foreign language is acquired. If they don't understand the particular problem of the students, how can they effectively help them? (They can inefficiently help, but then it's all up to the student's intelligence to figure out what the teacher doesn't know how to teach.)
As has been pointed out, a dedicated newbie can be learning a new language, and gaining insight into and appreciation for his students' problems.

[dmb]

I actually agree with you Rusmeister. I think teachers should have first hand experience of trying to learn an L2. However

[Justin Trullinger]

I've been reading a book on second language acquisition- "From Input to Output" by Bill Van Patton. A good introduction to SLA for those of us who teach second languages, and want to more about the processes by which they're actually learned.

I find my experiences as a language learner to be invaluable in terms of understanding the process my students are (hopefully) going through. One of the reasons I encourage all our teachers to study Spanish.

Best,
Justin

[natsume]

Justin said:
"I find my experiences as a language learner to be invaluable in terms of understanding the process my students are (hopefully) going through." [/quote]

I agree with Justin, it's not so much knowing the group's L1, but having the empathy of attempting to learn an L2, being cognizant of the struggle. But there is also the ESL teacher who has multiple L1s in his/her class. That is a situation in which contrastive analysis studies might become invaluable.

[JZer]

[JZer]

[ls650]

[Justin Trullinger]

I think it's the act of aquiring a language as an adult that helps- it seems to give you empathy for your students' situation, and also gives you more of a clue than anything ever can, in my opinion, of the process of adult second language acquisition.

I've known native bilinguals here (Grew up speaking both Spanish and English) who weren't super good as teachers, largely because they simply wanted to translate everything, and reverted to the students' L1 anytime there was a communicative difficulty.

I think the act of learning a language can provide teachers with valuable insight. But bilingual vs monolingual isn't the main issue. Knowing how to teach is.

Best,
Justin

[John Hall]

[Jetgirly]

Within three days of arriving in Italy I was doing thirty-five+ classroom hours per week. I didn't have time to learn Italian. Working split shifts with erratic breaks made it impossible to actually schedule any kind of tutoring or classes. I had an extremely high level of reading comprehension (thanks to excellent K-12 French classes) so self-study materials bored me to death. I was there for about sixteen months and when I spoke I couldn't even string a gramatically correct sentence together. Sure, it sucks, but I don't feel I had an alternative.

I'm now preparing for a "teaching term abroad" in Spain. I've got together with the other students who are going and we're planning to hire a tutor for some group lessons. I think it all comes down to how much time and energy you have left at the end of the day. Anyone can learn any language... when the timing and environment are right.

[Jetgirly]

Oh, and I now teach middle school ESL in a mixed-language class. The French language isn't useful in the classroom but my own language learning experiences (and related embarassing stories) really endear me to the kids. They know I understand what they're going through.